Coaxial cables are widely used to carry high frequency electrical signals. Coaxial cables provide relatively high bandwidth communications with low signal losses, are mechanically robust, and have a relatively low cost. One particularly advantageous use of a coaxial cable is for cable television/Internet, and related communications industries.
The cable television industry, for example, relies upon large and complex infrastructures employing many coaxial cables. Maintenance and expansion of this infrastructure may require significant work to be performed by technicians in the field in less than ideal conditions.
When maintaining or expanding such a cable communications infrastructure that employs many coaxial cables, a service technician may install connectors onto coaxial cables and may couple these connectors to various pieces of equipment to provide service to an end user.
Coaxial cable connectors come in a variety of configurations, and are attached in a correspondingly wide variety of ways with various tools. Some connector configurations, in particular, are secured to a prepared end of a coaxial cable by longitudinally compressing the connector. For example, a conventional connector for a coaxial cable end may comprise a connector housing and a sleeve. The sleeve is forced into the connector housing by longitudinal compression. The connector housing has a threaded coupling with a hex nut at one end to provide secure attachment between the connector and a piece of equipment such as a signal trap.
A tool is typically used to provide the longitudinal compression force upon the connector. One such tool for attaching a coaxial cable connector to a coaxial cable end is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,396 to Holliday. Holliday discloses connector attaching tool having an elongated body and an end stop carried by the body. A plunger is controlled by a lever arm pivotally mounted to the body. The lever advances the plunger toward the end stop to longitudinally compress the connector, properly securing it on the end of the coaxial cable.
Another exemplary tool for attaching a coaxial cable connector to a coaxial cable end is discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 7,120,997 to Islam et al. Islam et al. discloses a connector attaching tool having a lever end and a cable end, with a body slidably supporting a cradle in a cavity formed in the body. A connector housing of a coaxial cable connector is positioned in the cradle. A cradle clamp prevents removal of the connector housing from the cradle but has an opening therein to receive a sleeve of the coaxial cable connector. A handle pivotally connected to the body advances the cradle toward the cable end of the cavity and against a cable clamp through which the coaxial cable may pass but against which the sleeve of the connector abuts, thereby longitudinally compressing the connector to couple it to the cable.
Yet another connector attaching tool for attaching a coaxial cable connector to a coaxial cable is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,210,327 to Tarpill et al., which discloses a connector attaching tool requiring a reduced actuation force to operate. Increased leverage is obtained through the use of a long swing arm link having one end connected via a first pivot directed to the tool body and the other end connected via a second pivot to a handle. The handle drives a plunger into an end of a coaxial cable connector, thereby compressing it onto a coaxial cable.
Still another tool for attaching a coaxial cable connector to a coaxial cable is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Pub. 2008/0189936 to Sutter et al. Sutter et al. discloses a connector attaching tool for installing coaxial cable connectors on the end of a coaxial cable. This tool may install a variety of different sized connectors onto the end of the coaxial cable. The tool has a base carrying a pair of movable anvils for engaging two different lengths of connectors and a fixed anvil for engaging a third length of connector. The movable anvils define an opening shaped to permit easy entry and exit of a cable while applying a retention force to an inserted cable. A connector seating holder is formed in the front of the tool. A slidably mounted plunger cooperates with the anvils to compress a coaxial cable connector onto the end of the coaxial cable.
Such tools, however, require a technician to manually position a coaxial cable connector in the tool. The positioning of such a coaxial cable connector in the tool may be difficult in less than ideal conditions, such as snow or cold, which may require technician to wear thick gloves. Further, such tools must be manually reloaded between each attachment of a coaxial cable connector to a coaxial cable end. Also, a technician using the above described tools may not be able to easily determine whether the coaxial cable connector has been properly seated on the coaxial cable end. Therefore, despite the above exemplary advances in tools for attaching coaxial cable connectors to the end of coaxial cables, a need for tools that address the above drawbacks remains.